L'Astrolabe Underway Carbon and Oceanographic Measurements, 2002-2006

From 2002-10-16 to 2006-12-31, the vessel L'Astrolabe collected surface underway measurements of carbon dioxide partial pressure in air and water, salinity, sea surface temperature, and barometric pressure across the Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Tasman Sea. The data were collected by researcher Catherine Goyet and her team using barometric pressure sensors and CO2 gas analyzers. This dataset supports the study of ocean-atmosphere carbon exchange and physical oceanographic conditions in the Southern Hemisphere.

Use Cases

• Calculating air-sea CO2 flux based on partial pressure measurements in water and atmosphere.
• Analyzing seasonal or interannual variability of surface ocean properties in the Southern Ocean.
• Validating and calibrating satellite-derived sea surface temperature and salinity products.
• Studying ocean acidification trends using time-series of surface water pCO2 and related parameters.

Strengths

• Covers a multi-year time series from 2002 to 2006, enabling temporal analysis.
• Includes direct, co-located measurements of key carbon cycle and physical variables (pCO2 air/water, SST, salinity).
• Data collection followed a standardized protocol using specific instruments (barometric pressure sensor, CO2 gas analyzer).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• The dataset's last update date conflicts between sources (2006-12-31 vs. 2026-03-05), creating uncertainty about its maintenance status.

Provenance

Source

Catherine Goyet, University of Perpignan via Domitia; Institute of Modeling and Analysis of Geo-Environment and Health

Collection Method

Surface underway observations collected from the vessel L'Astrolabe.

Time Range

2002-10-16 to 2006-12-31

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:45:26.943273

Geography

Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Southern Oceans (> 60 degrees South), Tasman Sea